CHEMICAL-SHIFT IMAGING OF HUMAN COLORECTAL TISSUE (EX-VIVO)

The spatial location of MR visible lipid in the wall of the normal hum an colon, and in carcinomatous colonic tissue has been documented usin g proton chemical shift imaging, one- and two-dimensional magnetic res onance spectroscopy and histochemical staining. Following dissection o f the mucosal and submucosal layers of normal colon, these techniques showed high levels of neutral lipid distributed in the submucosal laye r, Relatively less lipid was observed in the mucosal layer. Histochemi cal staining confirmed that the majority of the neutral lipid was in t he submucosa, extracellular, and in the lymphatic channels. Carcinomat ous tissue gave a variable lipid signal which histochemical staining i dentified as being from tumour stroma, necrotic and degenerate tumour cells and macrophages.